Thoughts on Penn State's next men's basketball head coach

Ed DeChellis is now gone and it has a lot of people
wondering, "Will Penn State step up and make a big hire for Ed's
replacement?" More importantly, they are
looking at this hiring as an indicator of how Penn State will handle the search
for a new football coach. If hiring of Guy
Gadowsky (hockey), Jeff Tambroni (lacrosse) and Cael Sanderson (wrestling) are
any indication, Penn State may make a nice hire.

CHRIS KNIGHT / The Patriot-NewsEd DeChellis is still coaching, while it looks like Bobby Bowden is done

Putting the money situation aside, for now, Penn State has
been making a very good name for itself in a number of other sporting
areas. Since 2000, men's gymnastics,
fencing, men's volleyball, wrestling and the juggernaut of women's volleyball combined
have won 14 national championships. If
national championships are any indication of how well an athletic program is
functioning, Tim Curley, Penn State's Athletic Director, is doing a pretty good
job.

However, in college sports there are two real money makers,
football, naturally, and basketball. Tim
Curley, needs to step up in basketball.
The NIT Championship three years ago and the NCAA appearance last year
just don't cut it. In recent years, Ohio
State made the transition from a strictly football school to a big time
basketball program. The Nittany Nation
has been wondering "Why can't we?"

If the fan response of the Penn State NIT appearance was any
indication, the alumni are itching to have a solid basketball program. During that championship game, Madison Square
Garden, and the surrounding area, was turned into a massive version of State
College. You couldn't find a bar within
five city blocks that didn't have a contingent of Penn Staters in it. Take it from a native New Yorker, who knows
the area pretty well, that isn't easy to accomplish. With the NCAA appearance last year, during
the afternoon weekday game vs. Temple, the bars in Philly were packed with Penn
Staters as well. The time seems to be
right for a big basketball coach to step in.

One thing alumni leave out when discussing building a big
time basketball program is money. HBO's
Real Sports with Bryant Gumble recently did a story on how big college
basketball programs are increasingly unethical.
This really isn't news, but that way of doing business isn't something
the Nittany Nation is used to when it comes to winning. Maybe one of the reason why Penn State
basketball hasn't taken off as well as other programs in recent years is due to
Penn State's unwillingness to muddy its reputation? Just a thought...

Finally, a big hire here would start to alleviate a lot of
concerns regarding when Joe Paterno steps down.
The message boards debate this very topic almost every other day, to the
point it is nauseating. A quality hire,
someone who can woo recruits and big money alumni alike, while doing things
"The Penn State Way", would solidify the athletic department and Tim Curley's
position, at least until Penn State needs a new football coach.

Canz would love to
hear from you regarding how wrong he is.
He can be reached at the very juvenile email address,CanztheMoose@yahoo.com.